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Earlier this winter, during one of the storms, I distributed the bird seed
under the bushes, as usual, and hung a piece of suet off a more exposed,
prominent branch. The starlings, not surprisingly, went for the suet in
great numbers, and made a great target for a hungry Cooper's/sharp-shin that
made frequent visits to the vicinity. One did become a meal for the hawk.
Just a thought!
From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
On Behalf Of Eleanor Lindsay
Sent: January-24-14 8:38 AM
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: [NatureNS] Starlings
During the day-long snowstorm a couple of days ago I had a starling
invasion, the likes of which I have not seen before in over 30 years of bird
feeding; my feeders were completely overrun for much of the day by a flock
(?30+) of noisy busy starlings which monopolised all the feeders and seemed
to relentlessly and particularly focus on keeping downy and hairy
woodpeckers and a male oriole away from my fat feeders. One of the fat
feeders was a special recipe for the oriole, which appeared less and less as
the day wore on and I thought it highly likely it could not survive the very
cold night that followed. During the evening of the storm day I made some
makeshift modifications to a spherical hanging feeder with a 1" mesh around
it (which I knew the oriole would go through but not the starlings). The
following morning the improvised feeder was initially relentlessly bombarded
by the starlings, who eventually gave up and ignored it completely - and
then - miracle of miracles - the oriole appeared and without hesitation went
straight to the new feeder and ate its fill.
The starlings eventually moved on as the day got better - but the magnitude
of this kind of invasion is new to me; can it be a common occurrence, and
now that they have found me, should I expect that they will repeat this ?
Eleanor Lindsay
St Margarets Bay
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lang=3DEN-CA link=3Dblue vlink=3Dpurple><div class=3DWordSection1><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Earlier this winter, during one of the storms, I distributed the bird =
seed under the bushes, as usual, and hung a piece of suet off a more =
exposed, prominent branch. The starlings, not surprisingly, went =
for the suet in great numbers, and made a great target for a hungry =
Cooper’s/sharp-shin that made frequent visits to the =
vicinity. One did become a meal for the =
hawk.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'>Just a thought!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497=
D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div =
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0cm 0cm'><p class=3DMsoNormal><b><span lang=3DEN-US =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowt=
ext'>From:</span></b><span lang=3DEN-US =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowt=
ext'> naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca =
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Eleanor =
Lindsay<br><b>Sent:</b> January-24-14 8:38 AM<br><b>To:</b> =
naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br><b>Subject:</b> [NatureNS] =
Starlings<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span =
style=3D'font-size:13.5pt'>During the day-long snowstorm a couple of =
days ago I had a starling invasion, the likes of which I have not seen =
before in over 30 years of bird feeding; my feeders were completely =
overrun for much of the day by a flock (?30+) of noisy busy starlings =
which monopolised all the feeders and seemed to relentlessly and =
particularly focus on keeping downy and hairy woodpeckers and a male =
oriole away from my fat feeders. One of the fat feeders was a special =
recipe for the oriole, which appeared less and less as the day wore on =
and I thought it highly likely it could not survive the very cold night =
that followed. During the evening of the storm day I made some makeshift =
modifications to a spherical hanging feeder with a 1" mesh around =
it (which I knew the oriole would go through but not the starlings). The =
following morning the improvised feeder was initially relentlessly =
bombarded by the starlings, who eventually gave up and ignored it =
completely - and then - miracle of miracles - the oriole appeared and =
without hesitation went straight to the new feeder and ate its fill. =
<br><br>The starl